Simple & Effective Natural Body Care

You know guys, when I started this blog I actually had planned to distribute my posts evenly between food, natural beauty and a holistic, environmentally friendly lifestyle. Well, that did not really happen over the last few months. My blog turned into a 90% food blog – now with the new year, I want to first, post more, and second finally write about natural beauty and lifestyle as I had intended to. My recipes will probably stay the most popular posts for a while, but I do think that I’m not the only person interested in natural beauty and a lifestyle that helps the earth (but still doesn’t make you feel deprived).

So let me start today, with something that helps me to calm down in chaotic times: a very simple, yet effective and natural body care routine. This is probably so simple that some people might actually feel deprived by it – but to me it provides me a reassuring, calming routine. I know it works, I know it is good for our earth and I don’t have to spend too much time thinking about it.

I used to have a million different shower gels, body lotion, butters, oils and scrubs open at once in my bathroom. Not only did this contribute to a lot clutter, it also was kind of overwhelming. Which scrub to use today? What lotion smells good after that? Has this body butter expired already? Yeah. Not my kind of relaxed and simple bathroom routine. Not even to speak of all the plastic bottles and tubs that it produced.

Today, I have a routine that involves two soaps, one natural luffa and a simple body care oil. Sounds boring? Believe me, it’s not. Let’s jump right into my natural body care routine.

It started to bug me a while ago, that I created so much plastic waste in my bathroom, even though I actually really enjoy high quality bar soaps. I want to emphasize the word quality here, because all bar soaps are not created equal. Most conventional soaps really dry out your skin, but handmade soaps that are cold processed, are actually quite nourishing to your skin. The advantage of bar soaps is that they come in minimal packaging, often even not packaged at all.

On a trip to Whole Foods nearly two years ago, I came across Sappo Hill Soaps among all the other lovely soaps they carry. The soaps stuck out to me, because they were completely unpackaged, very reasonably priced and had one that smelled deliciously of almonds. I personally love everything that has to do with almonds. Eating them, drinking them, using them on my body. Trying out this soap was a no brainer for me, as it solved my issues with waste and quality all in one. Oh and no, I wasn’t paid to say this, I just enjoy the products and think that it might be helpful for others. No matter what soaps I try out, I always come back to my beloved almond soap. It’s so creamy that I even use it for shaving.
The second soap I use is a turmeric based Ayurveda soap that helps to deeply cleanse your body and also combat inflammation. I love to use the turmeric soap when I use my luffa – it gives me a really through cleanse and my skin is incredibly soft afterwards. The turmeric soap is actually a fair trade soap that was packaged in dried banana leaves and was purchased in a little shop in Europe – but I’m pretty sure you will be able to find similar soaps in most health food places that carry a body section!

Apart from shower gel, I also went through salt or sugar peelings on quite a rapid pace, which produced even more plastic trash (even though I sometimes made my own scrubs). Until I was introduced to luffas – they are a natural plant from the same family as pumpkins and are usually very inexpensive. My current one is from Whole Foods as well and cost me around 2$. Using a luffa for scrubbing does not only help you reduce the plastic that you use, it also helps your wallet 😉 (you can use that money on luxurious soaps, high quality body oils or simply the next sweet treat). Using a luffa is pretty easy as well: simply wet it in water until it turns soft(er) and use it with your favorite soap all over your body. I use it in circular motions starting at my ankles, working upwards. I’m not sure if it really matters, but I’m used to this from dry brushing and I feel like it helps with circulation and it also waked me up. Simply rinse the luffa well after showering and hang it up to dry.

After I get out of the shower, I only slightly dry my skin, because I use an oil as moisturizer. I have relatively dry skin and almond oil is my favorite. It smells lovely and leaves my skin feeling very smooth and nourished. The one I currently use is from Mahlenbrey, a small German company which produces very high quality oils. Just 2 or 3 pumps are enough to moisturize my whole body and believe me, it smells wonderful and your skin is baby soft.

Before this post turns into a real novel, let me end here. I haven’t managed to declutter and simplify all areas of my beauty routine this much, as you will be able to see soon. Neither my facial nor my hair care are that simplified, although I’m trying to be as environmentally friendly with my products as I can. Oh, btw. it’s really easy to travel with this kind of natural body care as well – the oil is the only liquid and it’s a small bottle that you can even take with you in a carry on. The soaps are much much lighter than a bottle of shower gel and the luffa also weighs next to nothing!

What are your thoughts on simple natural body care? Share them with me in the comments! Do you think I’m crazy, or do you want to simplify your shower routine as well? Let me know!

Ah, thank you so much Valerie! I don’t use this soap on my face, but it’s wonderful if you have found one that works wonderful on your whole body – this really simplifies the whole beauty routine. I think with soap quality is especially important – and as you say, even though it’s expensive, it lasts a very long time! So probably, if you would calculate it, it might in the end even work out cheaper as using shower gel – apart from the other benefits 😉

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Hey, I'm Kat! I'm writing about nourishing (breakfast) food, travel and throw in a little bit about eco friendly living and beauty as well. Let me show you that eating well and living eco friendly doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself!read more...

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